Republican Mike Johnson elected US House speaker, ending leadership vacuum

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives elected Republican Mike Johnson, a conservative with little leadership experience, as speaker on Wednesday, ending a turbulent three weeks that left the rudderless chamber unable to carry out any of its basic duties.

The 220 to 209 party-line vote elevated Johnson to the powerful role that has been vacant since Kevin McCarthy was ousted on Oct. 3 by a small group of his fellow Republicans.

“We want our allies around the world to know that this body of lawmakers is reporting again to our duty stations,” Johnson, 51, said shortly after winning the speaker’s gavel.

His first act was to call up legislation to signal support for Israel, which has stepped up its bombings of Gaza following a cross-border killing and kidnapping spree by Hamas militants early this month.

Johnson is best known as the author of an unsuccessful appeal by 126 House Republicans to get the Supreme Court to overturn election results in states that Donald Trump had lost in the 2020 presidential election. First elected in 2016, he is the least experienced House speaker in decades.

The Louisiana lawmaker declined to answer a question about the Supreme Court effort shortly after his nomination on Tuesday night, while other Republicans booed and heckled the reporter who asked it.

In a letter to colleagues, Johnson has vowed to advance overdue spending legislation and ensure that the U.S. government does not shut down when current funding expires on Nov. 17.

In his speech, he said he would prioritize border security and establish a bipartisan commission to examine ways to tackle the $33 trillion national debt.

He will also have to respond to Democratic President Joe Biden’s $106 billion spending request for aid to Israel, Ukraine and U.S. border security. While House Republicans broadly support funding for Israel and the U.S. border, they are divided over further support for Ukraine.

Biden urged Johnson to move quickly on the funding package. “Even though we have real disagreements about important issues, there should be mutual effort to find common ground wherever we can,” he said in a statement.

RECORD DEFICIT

The three-week speaker battle has helped to push up the U.S. government’s borrowing costs. The government posted a record $1.7 trillion deficit for the most recent fiscal year, in part due to higher interest payments.

Democrats blasted Johnson’s conservative stances on social issues like abortion and gay marriage, as well as his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

“Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. … No amount of election denialism will ever change that reality. Not now, not ever,” Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries said shortly before inviting Johnson to take up the speaker’s gavel.

While House leaders typically focus on fundraising and vote counting, Johnson is better known as an advocate for conservative social positions.

He has supported legislation that bars gender-related surgery and hormone treatment for transgender teens, prohibits mask mandates on airplanes, and tightens immigration and abortion restrictions.

Johnson is far from the top ranks of House Republican fundraisers – typically a key duty for a party leader. His campaign raised about $1.3 million in the 2022 election cycle, a fraction of the $28 million raised by Kevin McCarthy’s campaign and $14 million raised by Jim Jordan’s.

Republicans narrowly control the House by a 221-212 margin, leaving them with little room for error on controversial votes. Their divisions were on display over the past few weeks, as they nominated three candidates for speaker — Steve Scalise, Jordan and Tom Emmer — who failed to win election.

As speaker, Johnson will have to confront the same challenges that felled McCarthy and stymied his would-be successors. They include the demands of the caucus’ hardline members and the reality that with a Democratic majority in the Senate and Biden occupying the Oval Office, no laws can currently be passed in Washington without bipartisan support.

His inexperience may have helped him win the job by giving him less time to make enemies.

“Politics is like the fight business,” Republican Tom Cole said. “The longer you are in it, the more you get beat up. And there’s punches you can take early in your career that you can’t take later.”